next >>> three weeks since hurricane sandy, a rescue operation is still under way. jim axelrod went to the new jersey shore to meet the woman behind it. >> reporter: many people in union beach, new jersey, curse the ocean for what it took when sandy roared ashore. >> it's never over. >> reporter: not jeanette van houten. she's grateful for what it's bringing back. >> there was a photo. there it is. it's floating in the water. >> reporter: how can you tell it's a photo? >> by the paper and the size. >> reporter: van houten's home was one of 200 destroyed by sandy. >> i couldn't just sit around and go "woe me" because there was a lot of "woe me" stories. >> reporter: so instead, she's been walking up and down the beachfront. >> you have just a little bit of a person's face. >> reporter: finding small treasures amid the devastation. >> and that is another photo that's damaged. the storm can take our houses; they can take our possessions. but she left us these photos. >> reporter: she's gathered 5,000 pictures which she cleans and stores in 50-gallon tubs, snapshots of